My Final Project

For my final project, I created a private web site that links to a wiki, a spreadsheet in the clouds, and a group photo site for a group of women that take an annual ski trip together each year. The web site houses private information (like phone numbers and addresses) and historical information (that doesn't change), and it serves as a portal to the files and sites that group members will want to edit or add information to.

Historically, the group has used emails to plan the trip, but this means there are literally hundreds of emails – some with key information, some with comments about this information, but many others that are simply friends socializing. It’s overwhelming to simply keep them all, let alone find the one which has the information you are looking for when it comes to making decisions. I can’t tell you how often we re-send information because someone can’t find it. This year, one of our group changed jobs (changing her email address) and lost all the information we had shared. This class got me thinking that there had to be a better way to house the information so it is easier to store the information and more easily find exactly what you are looking for.

The web site is a private site, so you won't be able to open it up and use it, but I've included a picture of it (below). Anyone can see our wiki, so feel free to take a look if you are interested.

Another Blog's List of Collaboration Tools

A recent post on the eLearning Technology blog provided a huge list of collaboration tools that he experienced at a Learning Trends session. I haven't tried them, but just the size of it was amazing to me. I had no idea there was so much software out there aimed at helping people collaborate.

Aviva's Doing It

If you haven't already seen it, check out Shameer's blog post about how Aviva is setting up wikis for its employees to use and starting an Avivapedia as a knowledge management-type system. That's great. Nice to see a company that's not afraid of how people will use this type of technology.

Another Blog's Post about Second Life

I was going back through this year's big questions on The Learning Circuit Blog and came across one about Second Life. It was interesting to read the situations people feel it is most appropriate for and what kind of islands they would create. Check it out.

I liked Steve Churchill's comment on 6/30 about using it for simulations. I can really see that! Alex Heiphetz (who apparently works for a company that helps people get into Second Life) did a nice job of laying out his thoughts on 6/10. He also advocates using it for interaction as opposed to presentation.

My Podcast

Here's a podcast I recorded about customer loyalty ...